By Zack Ciboth
There will be a new face pacing the basketball court this season for the UNC Pembroke women’s basketball team. Dr. Kendra Samuels-Eaton was named the 10th head coach in the program’s history. Samuels-Eaton takes control of the reigns from longtime Head coach John Haskins who announced his retirement this past season.
“Well here at UNCP when I was here about three years ago just working with coach Haskins and he ran the program, he definitely gave me great insight, great role model and showed me how a head coach should be,” Samuels-Eaton said. “Previous head coaches that I worked under Vanessa Taylor, Mike Pearson and then Kyle Hill at Westen. All these different role models that I had in my life showed me that I could do this job.”
Coach Eaton brings 12 years of coaching in her trek back to Pembroke. She was an assistant coach for the Braves under Haskins for four years prior to being named the Associate Head coach during the 2020 season. She played a huge role in the talent that the Braves have produced on the court in recent years.
Samuels-Eaton played a huge role in recruiting former players Aniah McManus, Alencia Purnell, and Courtney Smith. Along with current players Kelci Adams and Zaria Clark.
She will also be joined by former players that she had the opportunity to coach in Kalaya Hall, Lillian Flantos and Zenzele Apesemaka-Vital who now join her coaching staff alongside Donald Bohannon and ShaNiya Lester who were apart of the Braves coaching staff in the past.
“The whole core group I think did a great job here at UNCP and I would have loved to see them their senior year. But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and it is Zaria and even Hannah (Rusell) that I helped recruit. I think this is going to be a great year for them and I’m just happy to be here while they are still seniors,” Samuels-Eaton said.
Prior to her return to Pembroke she had a few stops with one being at her alma mater she spent the past two seasons being the Associate Head coach at Western Carolina. Prior to that she spent some time at Wake Forest as Director of Basketball Operations for the women’s basketball program. Samuels-Eaton helped out with the ACC in 2009 as an intern for operations for the ACC Tournament. NC Central was also another stop in her tremendous coaching resume.
“The journey from starting as a ops person and moving up it just showed me that you can’t skip steps. I think the grind you get when you take those low paying jobs and you gotta do laundry or help another coach set up a computer and I think once you learn how to do those things they will help you evolve as a coach,” Samuels-Eaton said.
Before her coaching career really took off, she had a tremendous playing career as well. A native from Winston-Salem, she played four years of basketball at Mt. Tabor high school recording over 1,500 points and over 1,000 rebounds for the Spartans. She was named the Metro 4A player of the year in her senior year.
“I played four years of varsity at Mount Tabor High School and just the experience alone I think helped me as a young adult, as a young person and just being able to be a team player, getting the time management piece under my belt and just seeing where basketball can take you not only with my teammates but other athletes going into college,” Samuels-Eaton said.
Samuels-Eaton was a four-year letterwinner for the Catamounts’ women’s basketball squad and became the 22nd member of the 500-point club. She appeared in 117 games over four years and wrapped up her career with 721 points and 524 rebounds. In her senior season, Samuels-Eaton led the Catamounts to a SoCon Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth.
After her playing career she earned her bachelor’s degree in sport management with a concentration in athletic administration and professional sport with a minor in marketing and coaching from Western Carolina in 2009. While also earning a master’s degree in physical education and sport science from Central Missouri in 2011 and her doctoral degree at East Tennesse State in Global Sports Leadership this past May.
Samuels-Eaton will look to help build off continued success of the women’s basketball program and look to build a dynasty with her coaching staff, players and the community in the hunt for a third straight Conference Carolinas Championship and another birth in the NCAA Tournament.
“Just having that community support I think is very important because I think out community is our sixth man and they can help us win some games with the support,” Samuels-Eaton said.